Various types of computing devices and a variety of software applications enable “inking” input, wherein a user composes text, drawings, or highlighting from one or a plurality of stroke inputs, sometimes referred to as digital ink. For example, some computing devices accept stroke input via natural user interface input methods (e.g., touch, gesture), via a handwriting input device (e.g., a digital pen or stylus), or by movement of a mouse pointer, touchpad pointer, etc.
Much like in the “real world” where individuals oftentimes have a preference for a certain pen type or color or use certain pens or tools for specific tasks, users of ink-enabled applications frequently use a select set of inking tools on a regular basis. For example, in an educational setting, a class may have a defined color coding for notes that students are required to follow, or teachers may use certain colored pens of a defined thickness for grading assignments.
Computer and software users have grown accustomed to user-friendly software applications that provide intuitive graphical user interfaces and efficient user experiences. Many ink-enabled applications provide options for users to select certain attributes (e.g., color, stroke thickness) for an inking tool; however, attributes are typically selected separately. For example, to start inking, a user may select a tool (e.g., pen, pencil, or brush) and then select a color or ink effect to apply to the tool. Further, inking tool attributes aren't saved after an application is closed, nor are inking tool attributes shared across applications or devices. Accordingly, a user may have to reconfigure inking tool attributes each time she opens an application, thus increasing the workload on the user, and requiring additional system resources to configure an inking tool each time the user needs to use a particular tool. As can be appreciated, this can be inefficient and frustrating to a user who frequently and repeatedly uses a same set of inking tool attributes.